fred8033

Commissioner corps? District commissioners have worked okay, but I've never, never seen unit commissioners work well. IMHO, 98% of the time unit commissioners is a broken concept ... for many, many, many reasons. The quality issue is because scouting is conceptually simple, but the implementation is way overly complex; too complex for most leaders. Worse, the program delivery has far too much variety. The program would do better if it focused more on getting the scouts outside and being active. Worry less about leadership and character. Instead, focus on being active. Then, leadership and character comes as a result of being active.

Agreed. Quality control is a major issue. ... Scouting is like ordering a McDonalds Quarter Pounder and having equal odds of getting chicken nuggets, a taco or dog food. Units have such different personalities and habits. Leaders are even more varied. When the scouting magic is there, it's a wonderful experience. It's easy to miss out on that magic though.

If I had to do it again, starting in 2nd or 3rd grade would have been plenty early enough. Just like anything, the program got old fast.

My apologies for the difficulty and pain of this process. I am sure it's awful. Question ... Would the $10k-$20k paid to the trust be refunded? Seriously. I am asking as I am thinking the cost is to pay extra expenses not covered by the trust. Attorney bills. Court reporters. Coordination, processing, etc, etc. If an attorney charged $300+ an hour and it took 6 hours for the deposition, I am thinking that cost was $2500 for the deposition at least. I am just curious if all the funds would be refunded or just the unspent portion of the funds. I trust the plan stays alive. I also just want this done.

#1 Game systems and internet growth #2 Burnout by expanding to younger and younger ages. #3 Lack of perceived rich and rewarding program; whether caused by burnout or too much focus on leadership or just plan lack of focus on fun and adventure. Now, those 1990s kids are having kids and deciding there are better ways for their own kids to spend time. IMHO, little of the membership drop is about policies. It's about product and perception of the product.

Should not be a surprise.

100% dead on correct. Outdoor adventures sells itself. Leadership is boring and can be gotten many, many, many other ways. Scouting flounders when explicitly teaching leadership. Very few people can teach "leadership"; virtually zero scout leaders. Perhaps, if BSA sells itself on teaching leadership, the chief scout should be Tony Robbins or the next Stephen Covey. On the flip side, scout leaders are really good at teaching the outdoor skills and enabling campouts and adventures. And, by being outdoors, you learn leadership and fellowship and and responsibility and helping each other. But, don't market based on that. Market adventure and outdoors.

We never had clean terminology ever. It was always confusing. BSA was always Boy Scouts of America and Cub Scouts were always members of BSA and thus were Boy Scouts. ... It's just that we were so so used to the terminology. Perhaps, it's now ... in order of my preference Scout Pack versus Scout Troop Cub Scouts versus Troop Scouts Cub Scouts versus Scouts Cub Scouts versus older scouts Pack Scouts versus Troop Scouts

Why? Is it that parents see meetings at the church and assume church oversight? The insurance company is saying be responsible or don't do it at all. Simply meeting at the church infers oversight. Liability is not waived by a legal document between the church and BSA because the parents are not part of the agreement. This feels like a long-evolving legal interpretation. Effectively, if you own something, you are responsible. The church owns the building, so the church has responsibility to protect those using the building.

Great answer. I've even seen it as patrol of one going it alone.

Strictly speaking, the scout is done with the project when the beneficiary signs the paper. This is not about the scout or the "Eagle project". It's that maintenance was not considered sufficiently; not by the scout, the scoutmaster or the beneficiary. Perhaps a solid weed mesh or a different base to minimize weeks. This is very common. Eagle projects get installed without long-term consideration. Too many Eagle projects are removed / undone a year or two after they were installed. OR, the next Eagle scout project to fix / repair a previous Eagle project.

All of them. Explicit policies. Controversies. Societal change. Churches are not 100% altruistic. Churches used scouting to advance their own purpose: to develop faith, not directly but thru the side-door. Even if it's not your own faith, it still helps develop faith. ... With all the changes and controversies, charter orgs are re-thinking does scouting really help advance their own purpose.

Lots of data qualifiers could be put in. - 60 million youth sports ... how many covered by the safe sports site - Safe sports documents 220+ so far for this year. Probably 300+ before end of the year. 300+ for 2023. - Most of BSA's files are when BSA had 3 million to 4 million registered. So, comparing the data is really hard. On first glance, there seems to be a strong correlation though.

Digging up old ugly argument ... I don't thing BSA is that different than any other youth program. Ineligible files had 5000 to 7000 from 1960s onward. Many from 1970s and 1980s. SafeSports has 22000; a few from 1990s. Most from 2010+. Lots of nuances can be argued. Awareness now versus then. Number of youth and adults involved. Nature of program. Nature of crimes. But, generally I don't think BSA is any different. If anything, BSA was tracking it earlier and had youth protection training earlier.

Thanks. I've never seen that one before. Interesting how they publish ineligible names publicly. https://uscenterforsafesport.org/

I agree on this. Even YPT should be 3rd party certification. Serious question --> Is there a 3rd party organization that does YPT certifications? ... If not, can BSA spin off their YPT to be an independent body that then would work with more than one youth program. The new org could learn and improve independent of BSA. ... IMHO, this would be a good thing.

Our arguments might not be incompatible. The methods all work together. It's not that you use one method at a time. The patrol method overlaps with the outdoor method to have patrols planning and doing outdoor adventures. It's adult association overlapping with the outdoor method to get scouts outside being active. The methods working together achieve the mission. It's like Baden-Powell said: Advancement is like a suntan. Something you get naturally whilst having fun in the outdoors. We achieve patriotism, courage, self-reliance, kindred virtues, etc by getting scouts active outside having adventures. The nature of working together to solve the challenges of outdoor adventures instills the BSA values in the scouts. To be blunt, the outdoor adventures and time with their friends is what attracts scouts (and parents). The values are why BSA says it exists. The values are important to the parents, but many parents would argue baseball, football and hockey support the same values. BSA is unique and special because of the outdoor method to install the values. IMHO, the rest is a mush to try to be everything to everyone.

It's not advancement that's the problem. Kids want to brag. The problem is shallow covered topics that are not part of the core of scouting. Advancement should be outdoor, adventure, troop skills. Five shallow covered citizen batches to earn Eagle? ... including citizen of the family Merit badges where the badge is often effectively a joke. How many scouts have said when asked what they learned? "I really don't know." or "Nothing." IMHO ... to earn cycling, the scout should go on a campout where there is a 50+ mile bike ride. ... to earn hiking, the troop should do a campout with a 10+ miles of hiking (5+ each direction) ... to earn canoeing, canoe in the real world as part of an adventure. I'm okay with academic merit badges because someone will always want them. Fine. ... BUT ... Scouting advancement should be focused around outdoors, adventure and working together in a troop.

Agreed. I was discussing it recently. The example justifying scouts was that the average age of boundary waters visitors in 1969 was 26. Now, the average age is 45+. Youth need scouting to experience the outdoors and to learn the fun and excitement of skills that their parents lack.

@Eagledad is right. This is a repeated pattern. ... I'm not saying this is your situation. ... "Sometimes" scouters who are dis-empowered or voiceless or wanting more influence, sign up as a unit commissioner to get "perceived" as having extra influence / authority / connections. BUT, unit commissioners really have zero authority. They are supposed to be a wise, soft voice of an elder, experienced scouter. I'm not saying it's your situation, but it could be. UC is a district role ... not a unit role. UC has no right to attend committee meetings ... unless invited by the unit. UC has no right to be registered in the unit. Sometimes districts sign up current unit members as unit commissioners to get UC coverage in all the district units. This enables districts to look good, but adds zero value. If you feel strongly about it, it's okay to push back. You can let the scouter know that he can be an ASM or a committee member or a UC; but not multiple. Let the scouter know that If he wants to be a UC, then he won't be a committee member or ASM; ... and ... that he won't be on the troop internal leader communication list. ... IMHO, I wish I had the guts to do that in a volunteer org. I have no trouble at work, but in volunteering orgs it's harder. .... It's a good thing to have people cleanly defined in their titles.

We've been asserting this for years.

If the patrol flag is lost, get together with your friends and create a new one. It can be very fancy and professional ... or a simple craft project ... or a hand made cloth hung on a tree branch. It really depends on what you want as a patrol flag.

Some of my favorite memories are watching from a distance as my sons split wood with an ax. I'd be far away and nervous as heck, but it was very maturing for them. And confidence building.

It's a nice article. Hopefully, it's an uplifting story.

@Scoutmaster Teddy ... I'm not sure what you would do. I wish you the best though. Perhaps another council would welcome the help. IMHO, best method is to work thru your existing connections. @Tron ... I can conceive of other solutions. ... Commissioner service WAS fundamental 30+ years ago. Not anymore. Now, few attend roundtable as they get their resources online: training, schedules, contacts. ... Unit commissioner performance has always been hit and miss. ... Then add that councils have cost to support commissioners, such as expecting a paid staff member to attend roundtables. ... Then, add that many of our lives are busier as we've lost time to web, cell phones, etc. I can easily see a different path.